Seventy-Two Hour Insomnia
by TheEliteLabRatsLover
Summary: While on a mission, Barry accidentally gets himself stabbed by a knife containing poison. A poison that will only activate, if he falls asleep within the next seventy-two hours. But will he be able to survive those seventy-two hours without sleep? Especially with some unpleasant surprises along the way? Luckily for him, his friends will be there with him throughout the whole thing.
1. Day One: Diagnosis And Cards

**Heeeeyyyyyyy. How's life? So I got this _awesome_ prompt from KDesai, and I instantly fell in love with it! This will be a multi-chapter story, so bear with me. Haha. I promise that it _will_ get done; just like all of my other stories. But it might just take some time. ;) So, yeah, I am now excepting prompts, and am a beta-reader, so feel free to ask me to beta-read for you, or send me a prompt! ;) Also, I have a poll up on my profile, so if you could pretty please check that out, I'd love ya' for it! ;P Read on, dear reader. Read on... ;D**

 **Disclaimer: I own no part of this. Not. A. Thing.**

* * *

Barry kicked his foot out behind him to knock the attempted attacker back, so he could send him back to Oliver; since Barry was still working on fighting his own attacker. Central City had been experiencing a group of meta-humans who called themselves; 'The Destroyers'.

Cisco had thought that the name was too bland, and had decided that he would call them; 'Teenage Mutant Meta-Humans'.

Because that's kind of what they were; young, mutant, meta-human fighters. They were just causing a ton of mayhem, and robbing banks around the city, but as both Barry and Oliver and whole team of Star Labs were afraid of, they might start _killing_ soon.

And Barry was _not_ going to allow that to happen.

So, he had called in Oliver once he had painfully-quite literally, _painfully_ -realized that he couldn't do it on his own.

They had already apprehended several prisoners, but it seemed that everyone time that they thinned the group, they would recruit even more than before. And as bad as Barry felt for the kids, because really, they were just misguided _kids_ , this had to stop.

Oliver always found it amusing that Barry called them kids, because to Oliver, _Barry_ was still a kid. Right now, however, both him and Barry were fighting at an old and abandoned farmhouse out in the middle of practically nowhere.

And Barry was dealing with a _very_ frustrating meta-human. She always had a _ton_ of daggers, and much to Barry's dismay, did he realize that she could _make them with her hands_.

So, Barry was trying this best to stop her from hurting anyone, while also trying to capture her, keep an eye out for Oliver, even though he had claimed he didn't need anybody watching his back, and watch out for any intended attacks directed towards _himself_.

Barry glanced back at Oliver, to find that he seemed to be putting handcuffs on his captured prisoners; two whom were knocked out, and one who seemed to be cowering back in fear and giving up.

While his attention was on his partner, Barry barely had the time to react when he turned around.

She was attempting to stab him in the shoulder, but he quickly dodged that, not having time to counteract the next stab to his forearm. He hissed in pain as he recoiled back, he looked up to see a sick smirk on the twenty year old's face, and then looked back down; quickly yet painfully yanking the dagger out of his arm and throwing it aside.

A strangled shout escaped past his lips, but he clenched his jaw and ignored the blood starting to gush out of his arm, and instead focused on his new goal; apprehending his prisoner.

When he looked back up, a look of pure _fear_ was plastered onto her face, and as much as Barry felt bad for being the cause of that, he didn't waste anytime in using that fear to his advantage. He immediately started to use his super speed to run around her in circles, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't fight him off.

"Arrow, _now_!" He shouted towards his friend, and watched carefully as right at the last second, an arrow flew by, and Barry suddenly stopped so he was out of the way and watched as the arrow came at the girl, and suddenly a rope was wrapped around her.

Man, Barry loved those arrows.

They saved a _lot_ of hassle.

The girl stuttered, obviously shocked that the arrow wasn't harmful, and instead had captured her. She looked utterly disappointed and angry that she hadn't won. Barry smiled as he went over next to her; one hand on his opposite arm. She struggled against the ropes, but nothing happened.

Those were Cisco's new 'edition' of ropes; they dampened meta-humans abilities to the point of them being useless. Courtesy of the most recent team-up of Team Arrow and Team Flash.

After the first couple of weeks, Felicity and Diggle were sent back to Star City by Oliver, since he himself couldn't go back, somebody still needed to watch over the city; as Thea couldn't do it by herself anymore.

"You won't get away with this, you know! The rest of my team will break me out!" She claimed, and Barry nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure. But how will they do so without their leader?" Barry questioned, and the girl glared at him. He didn't usually boast like this, but it just felt so _darn good_ to apprehend the cause of this whole group.

Maybe now they could actually capture the rest of the team and put an end to this nonsense. Oliver came up beside him, before escorting the girl to the back of the van where the others were. When Oliver returned, it was to a grimacing Barry who was currently clutching his right arm.

"Hey, you okay?" Oliver questioned; voice deep from his modifier. Barry inhaled a sharp breath and nodded harshly,

"Yeah. Yeah, no I-I'm fine. Just got stabbed by one of those stupid dagger things." Barry said, the pain evident in his voice, because _dang_ , did those things hurt. Oliver carefully moved his overly bloody hand away, and inspected the wound for himself.

Barry bit his lip and winced as his hand was taken away, jostling the wound. And also, because it seemed that when he had his hand on it with pressure, the pain seemed to be lessened to a certain degree.

"That's bad, Flash. We need to get you back to Star Labs." Oliver claimed and Barry nodded.

"It's not _that_ bad. Nothing a little bit of time wouldn't heal. It's already closing up. See? The pain has already lessened to a dull sting," Barry lied, but the grimace in his voice gave him away. Oliver sighed and shook his head.

"You go on and I'll meet you there, okay?" Oliver said and Barry nodded sharply, wincing as the pain continued to throb, but was grateful that it had lessened some. He watched and made sure that Oliver could get the vehicle running and had everything under control, before he decided to speed over to Star Labs.

He felt a weird sensation in the area around his arm, but blamed it on the pain to be causing 'hallucinations'.

He opened the door to Star Labs and sped down the corridor, coming to a stop in the middle of Star Labs. Papers flew through the air and Caitlin instinctively grabbed at them, even though she wouldn't ever catch them

"I'm never going to get used to that," She muttered under her breath, and looked up at Barry. But the look of annoyance on her face quickly turned to worry as she spotted Barry clutching onto his right arm. "Barry!" She exclaimed as she ran over to him. "You're bleeding. A lot,"

"It's not that bad, I've had worse. Besides, it's not like it's-" He winced. "Life-threatening or anything." He said and she sighed as she gently moved his hand away and he hissed slightly in pain.

"Just because it's not life-threatening, doesn't mean that it's not _damaging_ or dangerous. This could have broken some very important nerves and if you were a normal human, it could paralyze your right hand," She stated.

"Yeah, but, I mean, I'm _not_ a normal human, so it's fine." He said and started to walk away but she grabbed his other arm.

"Oh, no, you are not getting away that easily. Come with me, so I can get a closer look at it and bandage it up." He sighed and grudgingly went with her. Cisco just watched with amusement from the computers; happily sucking on a lollipop. Barry sat down on the bed, and Caitlin gently shoved him into a lying position, when he had claimed that he could sit up during it.

"Mother hen, much?" He muttered under his breath and Cisco laughed.

"You should really know that by now, man." He said before typing on the computer. Barry sighed and Caitlin started doing a blood test, because as she had claimed; 'you never know if there's poison on the dagger or not,'. She then grabbed the peroxide, and Barry clenched his jaw and fist, preparing himself for what she was about to do.

"Ready?" She asked and he nodded, and suddenly felt a _tremendous_ amount of pain burning in his forearm; surprising him just a bit, because he wasn't sure that it could get much worse. He glanced down at the fizzing, and grimaced at the disgusting sight of it.

"Okay, that's just gross." Cisco said and Barry sent a glare in his direction; or at least what he had hoped was his direction, as he was having difficulty seeing right now due to the pain. He felt her start using some clean rags to clean the wound, before she started to stitch it and then bandage it.

"Sorry," Cisco held his hands up a gesture in front of him. "Just saying," He mumbled before going back to his work on the computers. Suddenly the doors to the room opened and Cisco jumped, earning a questioning look from Barry, to which he just returned with a shrug. Barry sighed and focused his attention Oliver, who had just returned from locking up their prisoners.

"Is Barry okay?" Oliver asked and Barry guffawed.

"Really, people? It's not like this is going to kill me!" He said, but everyone ignored him.

"Well, I've cleaned it and stitched it up, so now I'm just going to bandage it. I'm going to check over a blood test that I took of his, to make sure that the knife that he was stabbed with, isn't infecting his system or something." Caitlin explained and Oliver nodded.

"Yeah, you might have to give him a tetanus shot," Cisco added, and Barry scoffed.

"Really, guys? I'm right here. It _is my_ stab wounds, so feel free to include me in whatever the heck this conversation is," He ground out, wincing as he moved his arm and aggravated the wound.

Caitlin sighed and fixed the bandages that he had just messed up, causing him to have to stay longer. "Caitlin, it's basically healed by now, it doesn't need bandaging." He said and she shook her head.

"Every deep wound needs a bandage, because the outside will heal faster than the inside, and once it is healed over, that doesn't mean that the inside has healed yet. And you could aggravate the wound, thus causing the exterior to re-break, and bleed again." She explained. "Now get some rest so that it'll heal faster," She commanded and he sighed.

"Fine," He muttered as she left. Oliver walked over to Cisco, and started talking about the still missing meta-humans of the group 'The Destroyers', and how they could find them.

Or if there were any way they could draw them out.

Barry fidgeted, finding it nearly impossible to sleep after the mission; he never could fall asleep after a fight, the adrenaline was always too strong in his veins. After about a half hour, he was finally about to sleep, when Caitlin yelling at him jolted him out of his resting.

"Barry!" She shouted as she ran into the room and he jumped out of the bed out of reflex, instantly regretting it when his vision blurred. He winced as he grabbed onto the bed to not fall over, and then sat back down on the bed. He rubbed at his temple to ward off the oncoming headache.

"Sheez, Caitlin. I thought that you wanted me to rest," He said, shaking his head slightly and blinking a few times to clear his vision. When he looked up at her, she wore a look of extreme worry on her face. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"You didn't fall asleep did you?" She asked cautiously and he frowned.

"No, not yet. Why?" She sighed in relief.

"Thank God." She breathed out as she held the clipboard against her in relief. "Barry," She began. "I was checking over the blood test that I took of yours, and found a very interesting substance that was duplicating itself in your bloodstream from the knife. You see, the dagger that you were stabbed with, possessed a poison like substance that latches onto your blood cells and duplicates itself."

"Once it becomes strong enough, it will start shutting down your organs, and literally start tearing apart the inside of your veins." She said, and his mouth fell open in shock. "However, it can only do so, if you fall asleep. It's potency is only strong enough when your body is asleep, as your body can't fight it off as well." She explained.

"But since my metabolism is faster than others, it should fight it off, right?" He asked and she sighed.

"It was specifically designed for meta-humans. However, since your metabolism is significantly faster than others, even meta-humans, it should run it's course in about seventy two hours. Until then," She was saying.

"I can't fall asleep."

"Exactly." She stated and he sighed as he rubbed a hand over the back of neck.

"Okay, I could probably do that." He said, and Caitlin started speaking again.

"You're going to need to be under watch until that times up, and since I'll be busy seeing if I can find an antidote for the poison, I won't be able to do it. And Cisco can't stay up that long-" Cisco pulled a face at the remark that basically meant; 'really?'. "So, that means that Olive would have to. Would that be okay?" She questioned and Oliver nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I can keep an eye on him for that long." Caitlin smiled and sighed with relief.

"Good. We can do this; just make sure that he does not, and I repeat, _does not_ fall asleep. Otherwise, he'll die within ten minutes, okay?" She said and Barry swallowed hard.

This was going to be a long seventy two hours.

* * *

Oliver cursed again as he lost yet _another_ game of ping pong. Barry wasn't even using his super-speed, yet Oliver lost every single time. Oliver sighed as placed his racket on the table.

"Ya' know, how about we play something that doesn't waste our energy as much," Oliver stated and Barry laughed. Since Barry's arm had healed for the most part, they had decided to play some games in order to keep him distracted, and alert. So they had both agreed on ping pong. But now, since Oliver had already lost six games to him, he was really starting to regret that decision.

"Sure. You pick," Barry said as they both started to put away the ping pong table.

"Okay...how about chess?" Oliver questioned and Barry paused, a grin working it's way onto his face as he remembered how close he had come to beating Dr. Wells; a champion chess player.

"How do you feel about cards?"

* * *

 **Ta-da! Chapter one is officially up! :D This'll probably just be three chapters long...I don't know. Please drop a review on your way out and tell me what you think! ;)**


	2. Day Two: Problems Arise

**Hi, and good morning! :) So, this is going to be a _long_ chappie, but, you guys don't mind, right? ;) It starts getting good in this chapter. ;P Real quick, I just wanted to say; I'm not trying to sound like I'm promoting my own stuff, haha, but I'll be making an Ebay account with my family soon, and while they'll be selling random stuff, I'll be trying to sell up-cycled clothes and different stuff like that. So, the reason I'm saying this, is because; if you have like a quote you want done on a shirt or pillow, or something like that, I can try and do it. Or like a picture, or song lyric, or anything like that. I can try and do that. **

**The price should be reasonably low; I don't know, it's my parent's decision on that. But I'll be going to a thrift shop today, (probably) and the I will be picking out different types of clothes. And I can add different designs, fringe, and different stuff to it, also. So that's just a thought. ;) Let me know on whether or not you're interested! Again, this is just if you would want something custom made that you can't find anywhere; like a quote from a TV show, song, a picture of something. Ya' know, stuff like that. ;)**

 **And also, to Sally(Guest): Awww, thank you! Hopefully, you'll like this chapter as well. ;)**

 **Well, that being said, I hope that you liked it and will leave a review! ;D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own this hopefully good story. ;P**

* * *

Barry's eyelids started to droop as his head felt like a ton of bricks. He looked through his cards, but they were just starting to look like blurs. He blinked hard and tried to focus on the game, rather than his sleepiness.

He laid a card down and yawned.

Why was he so tired?

It had only been about twenty four hours since he was injected...then again, it would have been about thirty something hours for when he had last slept. So one day down, and two more to go. Barry felt like he should be more excited about that.

He and Oliver had decided that they would play poker...and then about every other card game out there. Twice. Just to keep them distracted. The room was brightly lit, which just added even more to Barry's headache.

He could tell that Oliver was tried, as well, but he seemed to be handling it a lot better than Barry. He didn't understand this. He'd stayed up for longer than twenty fours at a time. When he was a kid, in high-school at parties, in college when he studied too much, and other nights when he was either working on his dad's case, or just couldn't sleep due to nightmares.

Although, those were all before he got struck by lightning.

And come to think of it, every night since then, he had practically fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow; excluding the nights when it was right after a fight or something was on his mind.

Suddenly, a loud blaring alarm came overhead, and Barry internally groaned. He knew that sound. It signaled a mission alert. He bit back the urge to sigh as he stood up, not quite as alert as Oliver seemed to be. While Oliver went to get ready, Barry flashed over to his suit and had in on in the blink of an eye; even though it seemed to take forever to him.

 _Snap out of it, Barry_.

He mentally scolded himself, tempted to slap himself if it kept him more awake. Even though, he really doubted that it would. If he was having trouble after only twenty four hours, what was he supposed to do for the whole seventy hours?

He speed read the mission report, finding it to take him longer than usual for some odd reason. He made a mental note to check with Caitlin if that was some side-effect of the poison. Oliver walked into the room.

"Okay, I'll explain once we get there; I'll super speed the both of us there." He explained and Oliver nodded, and they were both gone in an instant. Barry frowned during the run there, his powers seemed... _weak_. When they got there, Barry accidentally stumbled after he had let Oliver go.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked; refraining from using his real name. Barry nodded, his vision blurring for a second as his stomach churned. He shook his head lightly as he stood up straight, previous signs of nausea and his headache gone.

"I'm fine. Just got dizzy for a moment from the run," He said, frowning. That had never happened before. At least, not after Caitlin and Dr. Wells had diagnosed the cause to be his glucose levels.

"Okay, the mission is about the Destroyers. Someone claimed that they had seen them heading out to this part of the neighborhood, and it was backed up with evidence from somebody's security camera. So, they should still be in this area, as it was merely minutes ago, and none of them have any transporting abilities." Barry filled in for Oliver who nodded and started scouting the area from the top of the roof they were on.

"They're probably trying to steal supplies so they can break into Star Labs for their leader," Oliver said quietly and Barry nodded.

"Yeah, they-" He stopped abruptly as Oliver held up a hand in a gesture to stop. He slowly motioned for Barry to come closer, and when Barry went over there quietly, Oliver pointed down towards the backyard of someone's house.

A mask figure was slowly moving towards the garage of that person's place. Barry was about ready to run down there, but Oliver's hand on his chest stopped him from doing so.

"Wait," He said, voice low. "There might be more. We need to wait and watch for more." Barry sighed irritatingly. If there were more of them, that wasn't really a problem for Barry. But he knew Oliver was right, so he waited. After several minutes, only one more accomplice showed up, and they both decided that they would go now.

Oliver shot an arrow to go down, and Barry ran. Barry stopped abruptly as he ran into the backyard, and Oliver slid down the rope of his arrow. They startled the meta-humans, who, once they realized that they weren't alone anymore, lashed out at them; attacking at first glance.

Barry easily dodged the pipe thrown at him, and Oliver shot out an arrow, that was dodged by one of the meta-humans. They were up against both a boy and girl, who each looked to be around the age of sixteen.

Barry couldn't help but have pity on them, even though he knew that they needed to be captured. Both Oliver and Barry could tell that the kids were inexperienced, so they used that knowledge to their advantage.

Barry sped behind the boy, who quickly turned around and threw a punch, that Barry caught and, using his speed, twisted the arm behind the kid's back. The kid yelled in pain, but Barry knew that he hadn't broken it, or even dislocated his arm. He pulled out the cuffs from his pocket with one hand, holding onto the kid's arm with the other hand.

They had both learned that now with the meta-humans who were teaming up, that it helped to always have one or two pairs of power-dampening handcuffs in their uniform. He slipped the cuffs on, and turned to see Oliver doing the same with the girl. Barry smiled.

"That went well," He said to Oliver once he stood up.

"Do you think you could speed them over to the facility?" He questioned and Barry nodded, grabbing them before Oliver could even finish his sentence, and was back before it ended, too. Oliver sighed.

"Already done. Would you care for a ride, too?" He asked with a smirk, before speeding him over to Star Labs. Barry stumbled when they came into the doorway, again. He then sped off to change out of his uniform, and came back to the facility where he was alone.

He winced, suddenly feeling a lot worse than before. The adrenaline was already wearing off. He clutched his head as suddenly pain and the rushing of blood throughout his skull blocked out any sound from the outside world.

He heard a voice, and knew someone was trying to talk to him, but he couldn't hear it over the excruciating throb in his head. He slowly removed his hands, and shook his head; the pain lessening to the point where he could actually open his eyes.

He lightly shook his head again, only now aware of the fact that Oliver's hand was on his shoulder. "Ugh, that was weird," He muttered. Apparently, he was there in pain a lot longer than he realized, because Oliver was already changed.

"Are you okay, Barry?" Barry nodded with a swallow.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bit of a headache, I guess. It's probably just because of the poison and my body still fighting it off." He stated, slowly walking over to one of chairs and sinking down into it; fully aware Oliver's worried gaze watching him.

He heard footsteps, and glanced over to see Caitlin and Cisco walking in; Caitlin briskly walking in while Cisco walked behind her, an apologetic look on his face directed towards Barry. That worried him just a little bit.

"What were you thinking?" Caitlin demanded and Barry frowned.

"Um, you're going to have to be a little bit more specific." He said and she sighed irritatingly.

"You. Mission. What on earth were you thinking, going on that mission in your condition?" She asked and he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face; her yelling inducing even more of a headache.

"I was thinking that my city was in danger, and I needed to protect it." He said simply, and she sighed again.

"Barry, Oliver could have done it by himself-"

"I wasn't going to make him do that, not when I'm perfectly capable of fighting a couple of meta-humans." He declared.

"Yes, but Barry, you could have been injured on that mission, which would in turn would cause your body to work slower as it tries to fight off both the poison and heal the wound. And using your speed will waste your energy. Plus, if your enemy would have found out about your current situation, they would have tried to use it against you."

"They could have used tranquilizers. Not to mention that you could have been hit on the head and knocked unconscious, which would be just the same as sleeping, and you would have died within minutes." She declared and this time he sighed.

"Yeah, but nothing happened. So everything's all right." He said as he went to stand up. Oliver, who had his arms crossed during the whole argument, held out a hand in a 'stop' gesture.

"Hold on a minute, Barry. Not everything is all right. What about when I came here just a little bit ago after changing out of my uniform?" He questioned and Barry glared at him.

"That was nothing," He declared and Oliver shook his head.

"Wait, what happened?" Cisco asked, speaking up for the first time during this whole argument/conversation.

"Don't-" Barry started, but Oliver talked over him; making Barry clench his jaw in anger.

"When I came in earlier, Barry was clutching his head in extreme pain. He also stumbled a lot when he was running; and felt sick after doing said running. Almost like he was dizzy or something." Oliver declared.

"Barry, you have to tell us about this kind of stuff!" Caitlin exclaimed and Barry groaned as he sat back down, pressing his fist to his temple as he closed his eyes. "Remember that one time I told you that; 'in science we do _not_ keep secrets from each other'? Because that _still_ stands. Barry, this could be a deadly situation-"

"I know!" He exclaimed in a sudden outburst, and everyone stood shocked for a moment at his anger. "I know, all right? I'm sorry, but I do know that. I just don't want everybody to be hovering over me because of this poison. I'm aware of how bad this situation is, but just stop worrying, okay? I'll be fine." He said, exhaustion starting to seep into his words. Everyone nodded slowly.

"We're sorry, Barry. But we all _are_ worried about you. This isn't something that we're used to dealing with, and we're not sure what to do." Caitlin explained and he nodded with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I know, I know. I'm just tired, and I guess that being tired is putting me in a bad mood." Caitlin frowned.

"You shouldn't be that tired, already," She said and he nodded.

"I know. It's only been about thirty six hours since I last slept, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I feel like I haven't slept in ages," He mumbled.

"Barry, you know how your metabolism is so much faster than anyone out there?" He nodded. "And that you burn through things on average three times faster than anybody else?" He nodded again at Caitlin's question. She sighed.

"Barry, I think that it might be the same for your resting. You burn through the amount of sleep in your system three times faster than before." She said, and Barry felt his heart drop.

"So, that means that I've technically only been awake for thirty six hours, but with my enhanced speed, I've been awake for about... _four days_?" He asked incredulously and she nodded.

"But you must be able to handle it better, because to you, being awake for longer periods of time has become normal. I'm going to run a few blood tests to see if I can figure out why you're experiencing these headaches and dizzy spells. It's hopefully just a side effect of your body fighting off the poison. We can't have you fainting because of it. "

She said and he nodded tiredly. She gently patted his shoulder. "You'll do fine, Barry." She said, but he didn't move or acknowledge it; just now realizing how bad this situation truly is. He vaguely felt her hand lifting off of his shoulder, before she walked out of the room.

"Yeah, I mean, if you can stop Zoom, you can surely do this." Cisco encouraged, before frowning. "We don't want you turning into some twisted version of sleeping beauty," Cisco stated and Barry smiled.

"Sure, man." He said, before Cisco left and followed Caitlin. Barry sighed.

"Well, what should we do now?" Oliver asked and Barry shrugged.

"I don't know. Let's just no play cards, all right? I don't think I could stand to look at another one of those ever again." He said and Oliver chuckled.

"I would suggest training, but we don't want to wear you out even further. So...I can't believe that I'm saying this, but, do you like puzzles?" Oliver asked, and Barry laughed.

"Me, the Flash, putting together a puzzle with you, the Arrow, slash Oliver Queen. Yeah, my life is the perfect definition of normal." Barry said and Oliver chuckled.

"Well, then, Flash? Do you happen to know where a good puzzle is?"

* * *

They had already spent six hours putting together a puzzle, listening to music overhead. Laughter and music could be heard from the main room of Star Labs by Caitlin and Cisco as they worked.

Oliver and Barry took turn switching the songs; finding amusement in each of their tastes, laughing at some of the choices, while finding amusement in the fact that they liked a lot of the same songs.

"Katy Perry? Really, man?" Barry asked as he stuck another piece of the puzzle down in it's belonged place. Oliver's face remained relaxed, even though a tug of his lips from amusement showed as he spoke.

"I know a good artist when I hear one," He defended himself and Barry laughed; causing Oliver to grin. "Hey what about you? Mister 'Poker Face'," Oliver accused and Barry put a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"That is a very well created song, Ollie. I'm hurt that you don't recognize a musical masterpiece when you hear it." Oliver shrugged.

"I never said it was bad, just said that it's funny that the Flash listens to Lady Gaga." Oliver said as he picked up another piece of the puzzle. This was the fifth jigsaw puzzle that they had worked on already.

"Oh yeah? And the Arrow listens to Katy Perry." Barry said and Oliver paused, his piece hovering over the puzzle.

"That isn't..." He paused again. "You keep my secret and I'll keep yours." He finally said and then joined in Barry's laughing.

"Deal." Barry stated once the laughter died down. He picked up three pieces and put them down; one right after the other.

"Hey, I thought I told you to stop doing that." Oliver said, feigning frustration, and Barry chuckled.

"It's not exactly like I can just shut that off. Using my speed with my hands, yeah. But up here," He paused, tapping his finger to his head. "It's not so easy." He claimed and Oliver muttered something under his breath, similar to; 'sure it is', and Barry laughed again.

He would have never have thought that he would be fighting off sleep, from a poison from a girl who can make knives with her _hands_ , while putting together jigsaw puzzles with the Arrow, AKA Oliver Queen who had been lost at sea and claimed dead. Life certainly was crazy sometimes.

Or in his case, all of the time.

It's rarer for things to be _normal_ than to be odd. Then again this all _was_ normal. He lightly shook his head in amusement. These seventy-two hours would be hard, but with all of his friends being there for him, it wouldn't be too bad.

Heck, part of it was even fun.

* * *

He had spoken too soon.

After a while, things had quieted down as they got into the midnight hour, and Barry could tell that everyone was getting exhausted at this point.

Which caused him to feel awful, because he was the cause of their exhaustion. Although, Barry was beyond exhaustion at this point, himself. But just as he was putting down a puzzle piece, he yawned.

And suddenly, his world was going unimaginably slow, only for a moment, before it was all just a blur, and he found himself colliding with the wall behind Oliver, a horrendous thud and then a loud crash sounding off as he hit the floor dully.

He groaned as he put his head back; the pain from the glitch seeming to intensify from his insomnia.

"Barry!" Oliver shouted, and Barry was distantly aware of Oliver kneeling next to him and slowly helping him to stand. "What happened?" He questioned, and Barry blinked a couple of times; shaking his head to remove the fuzzy black spots dancing across his vision.

As he stretched his neck with one hand, he noticed Caitlin and Cisco come running into the room; worry evident on their faces. He sighed as he heard all of their questions; his exhaustion suddenly seeping in, full force.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?" Caitlin asked, and Barry glanced over at her and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just glitched," He said and she frowned.

"Your lack of sleep must be depriving your body of it's necessary energy to keep your speed at bay." Caitlin was saying, but Barry found it extremely hard to concentrate at the moment. He wasn't really aware of what time exactly, it was, but he knew that they were getting very close to the third day.

And that nearly made him want to jump for joy; if he had the energy to do so. "Hey, Barry," Someone said, and he felt a gentle shove to his shoulder. He jerked, and nearly jumped straight back into Oliver.

"Whoa...easy there, Barry." Oliver said, helping him stand up straight again; concern evident in his features and tone of voice. Barry shook his head slowly, and glanced at Caitlin.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" He asked, his exhaustion seeping into his voice. Cisco, Caitlin, and Oliver all exchanged a worried glance.

"Every time he glitches..." Caitlin began.

"Must cause him to lose even more energy," Cisco said.

"Which is going to cause his days to go by even faster." Oliver added.

"Which, might even cause them to go by either slower, or faster for Barry." Caitlin finished, and Barry watched on with a confused face; trying to process it all, but having an extremely difficult time doing so with his fog-muddled mind.

"So, you mean that if his speed is glitching, his days will go by either super slowly, or super fast?" Oliver asked and Caitlin nodded. A sickening feeling built in Barry's stomach as he started to process it, not really wanting to process it. "Isn't there some sort of caffeine he can take that'll help him?" Oliver suggested and Caitlin sighed.

"His body will just burn right through it. And even if we did make something, it would only cause his glitching to be worse than it already is." She explained and Oliver nodded. Barry felt his knees getting weaker by the second, so he decided to very weakly sit down on one of the bar stools next to the table.

Just as Barry was starting to sit, however, he felt his hand start vibrating at a rapid pace, and just like before, his world slowed down to almost nothing, before it sped back up to an unbelievable speed even he couldn't quite process. He winced as the only coherent thought on his mind, was the pain in the forefront of his head, and arm.

He nearly wanted to scream at the agony of the pain in his arm, but settled for a quiet mutter of 'ow'; not having enough energy to even open his eyes at this current moment.

He didn't have his usual filter on like he did when he was injured, so when he suddenly felt his arm being jostled just a bit, a whimper came through his gritted teeth.

"Sorry, sorry," Someone was saying, among with many other things; none of which Barry could make any sense out of. Just like how he couldn't tell who was kneeling next to him. When he went to open his eyes, he was shocked to find that they were already partially opened; even though his eyesight was completely black.

"C'mon, Barry, we can't have you passing out right now." He hear another person say as they gently helped him stand up; along with the help of the third person in the room. He lightly shook his head as he opened his eyes, nausea building in his stomach at the intensity of the pain in his arm.

It was sheer _agony_.

He hissed slightly in pain as his arm was jostled again; quickly earning an apology from a couple of different people. He heard a sigh, from who he could just barely tell from his blurred vision, was Caitlin.

"Well, his arm is definitely broken." She stated and he frowned.

"That broke it?" He questioned, voice slurring unwillingly. Almost as if he was drunk. She nodded, and only now did he realize that his left arm was around Cisco's shoulder, while Oliver supported him on his other side so he wouldn't hurt his injured arm already than Barry had when he glitched.

"You must have collided with the wall in the perfectly wrong position. And I'm afraid that your speed isn't going to be helping it at all; it's too busy fighting off the poison in your blood system." She said, and he nearly wanted to cry.

This pain, wasn't going anywhere for another twenty four hours. And even in his sleep lacking mind, he knew that they wouldn't be able to give him any painkillers; it would only make him even more tired.

"Okay...okay. We can do this, guys. It's only like, twenty four more hours.' He declared, and Cisco chuckled.

"Says the guy who looks like he the should be on the Walking Dead." Cisco stated, and Barry glared in his direction. Or at least, he hoped was his direction. Cisco laughed as Barry shook his head.

"Hey, cut me some slack. I've been awake for like..." He paused, doing the math in his head. "Seven days," He said and Cisco's jaw dropped.

"Never mind, dude. You have every right to look the way you do." He stated and Barry huffed in amusement.

"Gee, thanks, Cisco." He said; thankful for conversation. Even if it didn't really mean anything, it did help to take his mind off of his current exhaustion.

"Come on, let's get him into the medical bay so I can set his arm." Caitlin said, and Barry numbly felt himself being half-walked, and half-dragged into the room next to the one he was in. He knew that the pain was only to get worse when she set it.

This was almost amusing to him; without his super speed, he could break his arm and even though it would be slow for it to heal, he'd at least be able to have anesthetics. And with his super speed, he could have a broken arm, and even though he wouldn't get any anesthetics, it would at least heal extremely fast.

Now...now he's literally got the worst from either circumstance. He sighed as they walk in.

Why couldn't life ever be easy for him?

* * *

 **..Well? Thoughts please? ;)**


	3. IMPORTANT

**Hey, guys! I'm so sorry, but this is not an update. :( But before you think that it's me saying that I'm putting this story on hiatus; it's not! I can assure you of that. :) But before you leave, I have a question.**

 **I have been getting the most amazing reviews on this story, to which I will reply to in the next update, and I seriously want to thank you guys so much for all of them! Each reader of this story means so much to me. But the question is; in a lot of the reviews, you guys requested the story to be lengthened. You don't want it to just be three chapters. But if so, what do you want to happen?**

 **I seriously have no idea as to what I should do, so I thought, "why not ask you guys?" ;) Please let me know your thoughts, all of you amazing people! ;D**


	4. Day Three: Part One

**IT'S HERE! Finally. I know you're all thinking it. ;) Believe me, I am, too. So, this was going to be an awfully long chapter, and I didn't want that, so I'm cutting it in half. Which also means that you guys get it quicker. ;) I just want to say real quick, how much I appreciate all of you guys! It seriously means so much to me that you all like this story so much! It always brings a smile to my face. :) I really hope that you all like this story, and I'll hopefully see you all soon again with the rest of it!**

 **Hercules1: Okay, I did that, and I just want to say thanks for telling me about it! And also thank you so much for your super kind review! It seriously inspires me to write more. :)**

 **KDesai: Lol, aww, thank you so much! I'm so glad that you like it so much! :) As always, I love getting your reviews. ;) And here it is!**

 **SlightlyIntrigued: ..What? Lol, sorry, but I don't understand.**

 **Sally(Guest): Well...now it'll have three and a half, lol. Maybe more, I'm still not sure, but probably just around that much. Sorry. :( But I hope that you still like these chapters!**

 **Me: Don't worry! Here it is and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! ;)**

 **blazessnooze: Aww, thank you literally so much! It seriously means a lot to me, and keeps me writing. So thanks. :)**

 **BusyBunny: Thank you _so_ much! And well, I'll be doing three and a half, so hopefully that's all right. ;)**

 **animefreak152: I feel like I'm starting to say this a lot y now, but thank you oh, so much!**

 **Lunatica-Lupin-934: Thank you! And thank you for being understanding, also. ;) And don't worry, here's the update!**

 **Katie237: Haha, don't worry! And thank you! It seriously means so much to me that you like my stories, because I have always loved your's, and well, you saying that you like mine just really means a lot to me. :)**

 **Ava Simbelyne: XD Don't say that! I'm sure they're great! And I think that I will just have it at basically three chapters, although, I really like those ideas. ;) And thank you so much! And also, no prob'. ;)**

 **Guest 1: Thank you!**

 **Guest 2: Cool! Thanks for understanding!**

 **Guest 3: Aww, haha, thank you so much!**

 **Guest 4: Thanks! :)**

 **Guest 5: Here ya' are! ;)**

 **I'm honestly not sure, when it comes to guests, if you are the same person or not, so please excuse my incompetence, lol. :P**

 **Disclaimer: I honestly don't own _any_ of this. Surprising, right?**

* * *

Barry suppressed a yawn as he sat on one of the bar stools in Star Labs; currently watching a movie to keep his mind sidetracked.

Well, _trying_ to watch a movie.

It was a little bit hard to concentrate on the action packed movie playing in front of his blurred eyes due to his insomnia and throbbing arm.

Oliver sat next to him; keeping a close eye on him, and nudging him every time he started to doze off. They were going to play some more card games, but had decided against both that and the puzzle, due to Barry's broken arm, and lack of concentration.

So they had all decided, excluding Barry who could barely even retain any of what they had been saying, that it would be best for Barry to just watch a movie.

And even though it seemed like a fairly good, and definitely action packed, movie that he would definitely want to watch later when he could actually understand it, he was having a seriously hard time comprehending the plot.

Cisco and Caitlin were still working as hard as they possibly could on the antidote, but it seemed hopeless. They refused to give up, however, because they believed that it might be able to save him if he somehow, accidentally ended up falling asleep.

Even though Barry figured that it would be nearly impossible to fall asleep due to Oliver being next to him, constantly watching him, which made him feel maybe just a _bit_ uncomfortable. His eyelids continuously started to droop, but he always blinked it back, determined to _stay awake_.

He would splash water on his face, which would indeed help him for about five seconds, and then he would be thoroughly exhausted again.

But his eyelids literally felt like thousand pounds bricks, pulling them down. Barry felt another none-too-gentle nudge on his shoulder, and involuntarily jerked away, nearly falling off of the bar stool he currently resided on; a purposeful idea for a seat from his teammates.

"Come on, Barry, you've only got eighteen hours left." Oliver insisted and Barry nodded tiredly; struggling to keep his chin up and eyes opened.

"I know," He said; voice slurring again, making him sound like he was heavily drunk. Caitlin and Cisco had done shifts where one of them would sleep for an hour or two, while the other one worked on the antidote.

And while they had tried to convince Oliver to rest for a shift, he had profusely denied the offer; insisting on staying by Barry's side for the entire seventy-two hours. And while Barry was deeply touched by the sentiment, he honestly thought that it was kind of stupid that he wouldn't take it.

Man, what Barry would give for only an hour of sleep.

Even though, Barry would never tell Oliver what he truly thought. Heck, he couldn't trust any of his thoughts in his current delirious state of mind. _Just keep going_ , he mentally attempted to encourage himself, _only eighteen more hours before you can sleep_.

 _Yay_...he thought sarcastically and tiredly.

His eyelids started to droop again, but they jerked open, however, when suddenly a loud ' _BOOM_ ' resounded from the room where Caitlin and Cisco were working on the antidote, causing Barry to jump from his seat along with Oliver; each exchanging a worried look.

" _Cisco_ ," Could be heard from the side-room, coming from Caitlin, before Cisco's voice spoke up.

"We're okay!" He exclaimed, and even if they were both out of sight, Barry could picture the whole scenario playing out very clearly in his mind. They both chuckled as they sat back down, and Barry slightly shook his head in amusement; grateful that everyone was okay, and for the momentary distraction.

His eyes still continued to ache more and more from his exhaustion, but he was thoroughly determined to _not fall asleep_.

He inwardly huffed out of slight amusement and annoyance; _what had his life turned into_? He was brought out of his thoughts by Oliver's voice, and looked up at the screen just in time to see the end credits rolling by. Huh.

"What movie do you want to watch now?" Oliver questioned, and Barry sighed as he ran a hand over his face, exhaustedly.

"To be honest? I don't even know _what_ we just watched..." He admitted and Oliver chuckled quietly as he stood up. "I'm gonna' go get some water; you want anything to drink?" He questioned as it basically took all of his strength to just stand up and start heading over to the other room where the fridge was located.

Oliver's brows furrowed as Barry turned back to look at him, and Barry sighed. "Oh, come on, I can go get a bottle of water without you following me so I don't collapse." Barry said in exasperation and Oliver sighed.

"So, do you want anything or not?" Barry asked; agitation lacing his voice. Seriously, this insomnia was making him ridiculously moody. One moment he was happy and joking, albeit he would be extremely tired during it, and the next he would snap at somebody. And really? Nobody here deserved that.

"No, thanks," Oliver stated, and Barry headed towards the other room and placed his hand on the handle of the fridge to open it; resuming his previous thoughts. They really didn't deserve his attitude.

The only reason they were in this position, after all, was because Barry wasn't fast enough.

He couldn't even dodge it, and if he had, none of them would be in this position.

His jaw tensed as he opened the door, before he winced; the bright light blinding him a bit, as this room was darker than any of the others.

He pulled out a water bottle, closing the door before heading back; fully aware that if he didn't come back out soon, Oliver would come to check on him.

He couldn't help but be slightly amused by that; he would have never had taken Oliver as being so 'protective'. It was kind of nice. Although, he would _never_ say something about to the man. He walked back in to the room, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the TV screen; a smile brightening up his face.

"How about this?" Oliver asked, a grin on his face and Barry laughed as he took a seat on the bar stool once again.

"Perfect." He declared and Oliver pressed 'play'. It was the 'Wizard of Oz'; one of Barry's favorite movies from his childhood. Which Oliver was completely aware of, and would constantly tease him about.

 _"It's a good movie,"_ Barry had replied one time to Oliver's teasing. _"If you say so, Barry."_ Oliver had declared; one of his signature-Barry claimed _annoying_ , because he only ever did it to _him_ -grins on his face.

But it was all in fun, Barry knew, and thus was the reason he looked forward to the next couple of hours.

Barry took a swallow of his water as the beginning started to play; insomnia completely forgotten.

* * *

" _What_ did _I_ just _watch_?" Oliver asked, specifically emphasizing his words as he stared at the screen. Barry huffed quietly, amused, but not-so-slowly feeling exhaustion attempt at pulling him under.

"Told you it was a good movie," Barry declared; nearly mumbling.

"Yeah-huh. Didn't believe you then, not so sure I believe ya' now." He declared and Barry stuck his tongue out at him childishly, before he chucked a piece of popcorn- _courtesy of Oliver looking for an excuse about halfway through the movie_ -at Oliver; missing horrendously.

But hey, he _did_ have a _broken arm_.

Oliver still managed to catch it gracefully, and Barry mock pouted; eyes slowly slipping close after a moment. He was only slightly startled, as he was unsure if he could possibly _be_ startled at this point in time of his insomnia, by a small 'hit' to his forehead from the popcorn.

Something that Oliver had done often throughout the movie; either to keep himself distracted, to keep Barry awake, or to just annoy him. "Come on, kid, gotta' stay awake." Oliver declared, and Barry huffed.

"Kid?" He asked, barely managing to crack open his eyelids to see the amused look on Oliver's face.

"Do you know what you just did?" He asked rhetorically and Barry frowned.

"Touché." Barry declared.

"Come on, Barr, let's go see if Caitlin and Cisco have made it anywhere." He suggested, and Barry sighed as he ran a hand over his face and stood up; beginning to follow Oliver towards the other room. Caitlin and Cisco had barely even been out of the room over the past couple of hours, only once that Barry really remembered, and that was when Cisco had come out during the movie.

 _"I thought that I had heard 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow" coming from here. This is a good movie."_ To which Oliver had simply, quietly snorted as Barry grinned triumphantly, saying; _"See, Ollie? At least somebody around here has good taste."_

Barry smiled at the memory, when suddenly his vision blurred slightly, and he shook his head hoping to remove the haze, but in turn only made his head pound even harder and his whole world to sway for a moment.

He stopped for just a moment, inhaling a deep breath as he closed his eyes, opening them and moving forward again once he was done. _That was weird_...he thought as he took his place next to Oliver, who was apparently already talking to Caitlin and Cisco.

"We've been trying, but there seems to be no sort of antidote or anything to even speed up the process. I'm afraid that he's just going to have to wait this one out," Caitlin was saying, but Barry only heard part of it.

Besides, even in his sluggish mind he could still connect all of the dots. He had honestly not been expecting them to be able to. Not meaning that they weren't _capable_ of doing it, just that he didn't think that there _was_ an antidote to be _found_.

"Hey, dude. Barry," Cisco was apparently saying, and Barry shook his head to remove some haze, because _how did he not hear that?_ , immediately regretting it because of the dizziness that settled in his vision.

"Yeah? Sorry." He apologized as he looked at the brunette who was cautiously watching him with a worried expression.

"Don't worry about it. I was just wondering if ya' felt alright, because you're looking kind of sickly." Cisco said, and he could just _feel_ everybody's gaze that had turned to him. Barry swallowed as he ran a hand over his face.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." Barry declared, but nobody seemed to believe him.

"...Alright, well, we're going to go and see if we can find something else to do, because I don't think movies are working to keep him awake, anymore." Oliver declared; eyeing Barry wearily, who seemed to keep zoning out.

"'Kay. We're just gonna' keep trying and hopefully we'll come across something." Cisco said, and Oliver nodded as he started to walk away.

"Let's go, Baer." He said, and Barry frowned as he turned to start following Oliver; his vision blurring as his stomach simultaneously lurched. He froze in his steps; holding his hand out to his side as if it could anchor himself.

Somebody was asking him if he was okay, but he couldn't hear it over the rushing in his own head. Barry swallowed hard, trying to discern reality from the horrible feeling that seemed to be trying to consume him.

"Barry, are you okay?" Somebody asked, and he thinks it's Oliver, _but he doesn't know_. He attempts to nod as he tries to take another step; his vision long gone, by now, and immediately regrets his decision.

Realizing that gravity seems to want to play a joke on him, because he's suddenly collapsing to the ground as another wave of dizziness hits him. Barry's back collides with the ground as his head follows suit; a white hot pain blossoming on his skull as people shout his name.

 _Why do they have to be so loud?_

He internally wondered weakly at their overly loud voices. Somebody's touching him, and his dizziness is finally dissipating; being replaced by an even worse pain that has spread from the base of his skull to the rest of his body, as if it's pulsing with his veins every time his heart pumps.

"Barry!" Somebody all but shouts, and he realizes that somebody's still speaking to him, shaking him, and only aggravating the pain even further. He winces from the pain as he weakly tried to shove their hands away and groggily sits up.

"I'm awake..." He claims quietly as he's brought up off the ground; movements sluggish. His vision finally clears, and he realizes that they're all watching him worriedly; Oliver on his right side, supporting him, with Cisco on his left.

"Don't ever do that again!" Caitlin exclaimed, fear and leftover adrenaline lacing her words, and he furrowed his brows as he looked towards her.

"It's not exactly like I meant to." Barry defended softly and she sighed.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked gently. He shrugged; awkwardly due to his broken arm, and Oliver and Cisco holding him up. Which he was simultaneously grateful for and annoyed by, because for one, they were definitely crowding him, and he was not some weak, little boy, but then again, he wasn't entirely sure if his legs could support him.

"Just got dizzy," He stated and she frowned.

"How often have you been getting dizzy spells." He opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly cut him off with a stern look. "And don't you dare tell me that this was your first and only one." She declared and he sighed.

"I don't know...every once in a while I would just get kind of dizzy. I guess that it's been going on ever since I got stabbed." He admitted sheepishly; hating the feeling of having to be dependent on others. "Guys, hey, I'm fine." He claimed as he ungracefully shrugged off their arms and moved away; covering up a grimace from doing so.

He turned back around to look at the trio who were still watching him as if he was a dying animal that they were trying to save. "I'm perfectly fine. There's no need to worry." Barry declared with the hint of a smile on his face, but nobody seemed to be buying it.

"Cisco and I are going to run a few more tests on the blood samples we took earlier, but I'm guessing that it's just a side effect of the poison." Caitlin said, _still_ watching him wearily. He sighed. "Oliver, keep-"

"I will." Oliver declared, arms crossed as he stared at Barry, and he suddenly felt very small under Oliver's gaze. Caitlin nodded and left the room, Cisco trailing behind; looking back at Barry once more before walking into the other room. Barry watched him and sighed once, before looking back at Oliver; who was _still_ watching him.

"So..." He started slowly, trying to break up the tension in the room as he shuffled his feet lightly. "Do you want to-"

"Why are you so stubborn?" Oliver asked suddenly; catching Barry off-guard as he looked up at him.

"...Excuse me?" He questioned with a frown.

"I asked why you were so stubborn." Oliver repeated but Barry lightly shook his head in confusion; trying to ignore the fatigue trying to settle back in once the adrenaline started to wear off.

"I'm afraid I don't understand..." His voice trailed off and Oliver sighed.

"Am I really that bad? Because then I need to apologize to a lot of people." Barry frowned again; what the heck was he talking about?

"What-"

"You won't accept any of our help, and you act as if you are perfectly fine, when, Barry, you are _not_. It's okay to ask for help, and realize that you can't do it by yourself." Barry sighed.

"Oliver-"

"No, listen to me." Oliver ordered, and his tone wasn't harsh or sharp, but it was firm as he continued to look at Barry evenly.

"I know what you're doing; you don't want to burden anybody, but Barry, you are not doing that. Caitlin, Cisco, and I, we are all here because we _want_ to be. We're your friends. And that includes everybody else. We could all leave if we wanted to, but no, we chose to stay by your side because you are our _friend_. We _want_ to help you," He sighed, shaking his head lightly, and Barry looked down.

"You don't have to do this alone." Oliver finally declared, and after a moment, Barry looked up with a swallow and closed smile. He nodded once, unsure on whether or not the feeling in his stomach was due to his insomnia and being poisoned, or due to Oliver's words.

"Thanks," He said after a moment and Oliver nodded with a small smile. After only a few seconds Oliver suddenly chuckled.

"God, when did I turn into Dig and Felicity?" He mumbled as he ran a hand over his face and Barry chuckled in return; the mood lightening.

"How do you feel about trying to play a video game? This time you might actually win since I'm kind of out of it." Barry said, a grin playing on his lips as he spoke. Oliver just shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

"You're on."

* * *

 **Well? What'd ya' think!? I always love to hear your thoughts! ;)**


	5. Day Three: Part Two

**Oh. My. Gosh.**

 **I finally did it.**

 **Hallelujah! :D But seriously! I can't believe I finally did it. You guys have been so patient and understanding and just so AMAZING so thank you guys for that! Love ya' all, my lovelies. I hope this is okay, because I've been trying to get back into writing since I haven't written in like, months, so yeah, here's hoping! Thank you all for sticking through this with me and riding along this crazy train! :D There will probably be like, one more chapter after this but hopefully it won't take as long this time, haha. Plus it's an epilogue, so like, it's not _that_ important. ;P**

 **Disclaimer: Yep, I'm just sitting here on my bed, writing on my computer with a mouse that doesn't even work, despite owning everything, because, what the heck? It's fun. _Not._**

* * *

His arm ached, his eyelids felt like bricks, his head throbbed and his body felt empty yet weighed down like cement. He was trying to focus on the video game he was playing- _to be honest, he didn't know what game it was or even how to play, he was basically just pressing different buttons and hoping for the best_ -but it was physically impossible.

Barry was never going to take sleep for granted ever again.

Oliver sat beside him on a bar stool, and was paying more attention to Barry than he was to the video game. Which he still couldn't believe that he was playing video games with _Oliver Queen_. It kinda' sucked that he was so out of it, because it could've been fun.

His neck was taut as he tried to keep his chin from falling to his chest in a desperate attempt to stay awake.

Six more hours.

Six more hours of torture and he would finally be free.

Probably.

At least, that's what they hoped for. Because despite all of the tests they had run, no one could be certain that once Barry fell asleep he would wake back up. Which at this point, Barry wasn't sure he could wake back up anyway just because he was _so exhausted_.

He had accidentally overheard a conversation between Cisco, Caitlin and Oliver about the fact that Barry may even slip into a coma when he finally succumbed to unconsciousness. But of course, there was only a twelve percent chance of that happening.

So.

There's that.

And another reason Barry would be glad when this thing is over, is that everyone else can rest, too. Because Oliver being the stubborn idiot that he is- _yet somehow overly protective, and that still is so, so weird to Barry_ -hasn't slept once this entire time. He was determined to be by his side through out every hour.

And while that was very touching- _not to mention strange because isn't this_ _Oliver Queen?_ -it made Barry feel bad that he was being such a burden.

Despite what anybody says, it was true. Maybe not burden, but major inconvenience. He just wished that Oliver would actually _sleep_ because even though Barry can't, it doesn't mean Oliver shouldn't. But still. It meant a lot to Barry that he was willing to go through all of this along beside him.

 _Who would've thought such a great friendship would evolve from such an unlikely pair?_ Barry mused dazedly as he blinked sluggishly. By now, Cisco had come out and joined them, apparently as the "referee" because 'super heroes don't play well together', as Cisco declared.

He could hear his friend talking in the background, words running a mile a minute as if he was an auctioneer, and was trying his best to focus on his voice because it seemed to be the distraction he needed. But all of that changed in the blink of an eye; quite literally. Because when Barry looked up he could have sworn he saw bolts of red lightning race across the room.

Immediately, without a second of hesitation, despite his insomnia and lack of any strength to keep him upright, he jumped up; on high alert. His head suddenly felt like thousands of tiny needles were being jammed into his skull, but he pushed through the pain and blurry vision to focus. Another blur of red flashed before his eyes and his heart sunk.

The Reverse Flash.

He was here.

It felt as if his heart had stopped, and he could distantly hear Oliver and Cisco's voices in the back ground, but the only thing he was registering was the overwhelming, crushing fear that buried itself into his chest and the even stronger need to finish the battle.

He wasn't in S.T.A.R. Labs anymore. He wasn't surrounded by friends and fellow heroes, fighting an invisible foe that had latched onto his body.

Instead, he was back in his old home from thirteen years ago, facing an enemy that still haunted his dreams today. There was something lurking in the back of his mind, a small grip on reality trying to pull him back, but then he saw him. Looming before him, knife in hand, and the air around him vibrating at the same frequency his body was.

And suddenly nothing else registered but _him_.

Barry stumbled forward, barely managing to stop from hitting the ground, when he felt hands grab onto his arms to try to stop him. He struggled to free himself, yanking his arms away and yelling in agony when his broken arm was jostled. Invisible forces continued to try and pull him back, but he struggled with all his worth as The Man in Yellow hovered in front of him, taunting him as he pulled back his mask to reveal Eobard Thawne.

"Ah, Barry Allen. Once again, you were too late." Eobard mocked, gesturing to the blood stained knife he held in his possession. Barry felt as if his heart shattered into a billion pieces at the sight. His jaw tensed as he continued to fight his way free.

"I'm gonna' kill you." He declared in a broken voice, but watched as Eobard merely smiled.

"If only you could. But you see," He leaned forward, inches away from Barry as an evil gleam entered his eyes. "I'm not even real." Barry frowned, confusion crossing his features as he watched the man he had despised almost his entire life, and the scenery around him fade away.

He suddenly broke free from the invisible grasp holding onto him, and fell to the ground; pain bursting from his arm and spreading like white fire through out his body.

A pained yelp escaped past his lips as his chest and arms collided with the ground, vision blackening as the pain filled him. He closed his eyes with a grimace, dizziness clouding his mind and ears ringing. Only now could he catch a few of the words being said above and around him.

"...might have...restrain him..."

"...can't...sedate...might die..."

"...other choice...we have..."

"...wait, guys...I think he's...looks like..."

"...coming around...Barry, can you..."

"...it's me, Caitlin...Cisco and Oliver...here..."

"...S.T.A.R. Labs...everything's...okay..."

He blinked sluggishly, blurred figures dancing above him as he tried to focus; only realizing now that he was no longer on the floor but on something soft. "Wha-" He choked out, becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and the worried faces of his teammates. And only now did he realize, that there were tears streaming down his face.

"It's okay, buddy, you're at S.T.A.R. Labs. The Reverse Flash isn't here and won't ever be here again. Everything's all right, Barry," Cisco was saying, and oh.

 _Oh_.

That wasn't...real...

Humiliation swept over Barry and he brought up a shaking hand- _stop. It wasn't even real_ -to his face to cover his eyes from the lights and to hide his tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry-" And there it was. He was delirious and babbling and trying to apologize but it only came out in harsh sobs as he tried to force the image of a blood stained knife out of his mind.

"...can we...just a minute..." Barry distantly heard Oliver's voice and scuffling footsteps leaving the room, but could only focus on trying not to hyperventilate. Which wasn't working. "Barry, you need to breathe," Oliver was saying, his voice oh-so-calm, and how can he be so _calm_?

Eobard Thawne just killed his mother and he's gonna' be back and they're all in danger and- "Barry, hey, _breathe_." But he can't because Thawne is here, _now_ , and if he doesn't do something they're all going to die and _God_ , he can't lose anybody else-

"It's okay, just do it with me-" And suddenly Oliver's helping him sit up as he commands with that firm but gentle voice that he has that Barry can't help but listen to and-"That's it, you're doing good, just keep going-" And finally Barry's lungs feel like they can expand again as he inhales deeply but shakily and the panic is lessoning but still-

"He's not here. You defeated him, he's not coming back. We are all _safe_ -" And just like that Barry feels like the wind has been knocked out of him as his vision focuses and he can finally _see_ Oliver and Barry's whole body is trembling so violently and it feels like his heart was just ripped out, but slowly things are coming back to him and he can finally _breathe_ _again_.

Next thing he knows, there are arms around him, and he's holding back with a death grip, because even though he knows now, that none of it was real, that doesn't make it any less painful. His arm is still throbbing- _no doubt a re-fracture from all his thrashing around from the hallucination_ -but it barely even registers because it just feels numb.

His heart is still pounding violently inside of his chest but he no longer feels like he's going to pass out from the crushing weight on his chest.

Oliver is saying something, but Barry can't quite hear it over the blood rushing in his ears nor could he possibly begin to understand it through the muddled fog in his brain. Barry's grip on Oliver slackens and he feels weak and ridiculous because he's holding onto _Oliver_ and he's supposed to be a _hero_ but now he only feels like the scared little boy who had wandered into the scene of his mother's murder.

"I-I'm sorry," Barry said, shame washing over him and he wants to say more, but in his delirious state of mind he can't trust what might come out. Oliver pulled back, only once he was certain Barry was ready, before speaking; keeping one hand on Barry's shoulder. And Barry wasn't sure if that was for the physical connection, or to keep him upright. Perhaps both.

"It's okay, buddy," Oliver says, voice sincere and understanding and _God_ when did they become so _close_? Barry sniffed, looking down at the floor awkwardly.

Distantly, the one part of him that wasn't wrapped up in this twisted emotional state of his, picked up on the sound of Oliver inhaling deeply as he sat next to him on the hospital bed. "Just a few more hours," Oliver declared, and Barry nodded absentmindedly.

So Oliver decided to provide the one of the many things Barry needed at that moment, but the only thing he could have; a distraction "Wanna' go see if there's anything else we can get ourselves into?" It's a joke, Barry knows this, because that seemed to be the only thing they ever did; got into trouble.

Barry's lips turned up into a grin as he looked up at Oliver. He's tired, and hallucinating and on the very verge of fainting and maybe dying, but he doesn't feel the need to worry about that anymore. Because, after all...

"As long as you guys are there to bail me out, I'm up for anything."

* * *

" Only a few more minutes now, Barry," Caitlin said, eyes bright with relief and smile wide with exhaustion and joy. Barry returned the smile with one of his own, a sense of _finally_ washing over him. Somewhere near him, Cisco cheered and clapped, easing any tension the room may have held in a way only Cisco could. Ever since six hours before, when he had... _hallucinated_ the Reverse Flash, time had gone by fairly quickly. There were a few _issues_ along the way.

Such as more hallucinations, nearly passing out a couple of times, petty arguments because _nobody_ has gotten enough sleep- _or any sleep in his case_ -and more glitches of his speed. Which had been really odd the first time it had happened, because it wasn't like the first couple.

These were more simple, as in his arm jerking, causing him to fall off his chair- _that was fun_ -, him vibrating uncontrollably, and a few really weird minutes where he was moving normally, but everything around him was moving at a snail's pace.

Simple stuff.

Caitlin had told him it was just because his body was so sleep deprived, that even with the Speed Force flowing through his veins,his body wasn't strong enough to handle much more than small, jerky movements.

And after all that, they were finally here. And now _here_ seemed to be dragging on for an eternity. Everyone was enthralled with the fact that the past seventy two hours were coming to a close, but there was also a certain level of dread and apprehensiveness filling the air. He would soon be able to sleep, but would he be able to wake back up?

Caitlin had assured everyone more than once- _because God knows that these people can't take anything less than one hundred percent_ -that everything was in favor of working out well. However, there was still a small percentage that things might not.

Being lost in his thoughts, Barry completely missed everything going on around him as those last few minutes dwindled away into nothing; leaving him at the exact seventy two hour mark of being stabbed.

"Barry? Dude, you gotta' stop spacing out like that; it's freaking me out." Cisco said, and Barry blinked at him stupidly.

"What?" Cisco just chuckled and shook his head.

"The times up, man. You can sleep now," Cisco declared and Barry sighed with relief.

"Oh, thank God," Barry said, feeling the weight lift off of his shoulders despite the insomnia keeping him down. He was barely even aware of Oliver and Cisco helping him walk over to the hospital bed, barely coherent of the words coming out of his mouth about not being a little kid. And Cisco and Oliver's shared "uh-huh" that still sounded like they were talking to a two year old.

"Hey, we can't help it that you look like a kid," Cisco said, and oh, wait, he must have said that last part out loud. Huh. Everything continued to move around him a daze, and he still felt like he was trapped in some sort of hazy fog. Hazy fog? Mazy log? No, that's...that's not what he meant. What did he mean again? "Dude, you're just rambling. We can't understand you," Oh. He was doing it again. He's gotta' stop that.

Somebody gently pushed him back against the bed, or maybe two people did it, he didn't know.

"Sleep." Caitlin commanded, and he found that his eyes were closed before he could even register what he was doing. He distantly heard footsteps leaving the room, but still felt a presence next to him. Sensing that the other person was about to leave, also, Barry cracked his eyelids open, and once realizing who it was- _though he knew all along_ -he numbly reached out; grabbing onto the other man's wrist. Oliver looked down at the hand on his wrist, before looking at Barry with a frown.

"Hey, Ollie?" Barry questioned, voice quiet and tired.

"Yeah, kid?" Barry's eyes had begun to close again already, but a smile still managed to form on his tired lips.

"Thank you." And with that, Barry was off into the patient, awaiting arms of unconsciousness, as his grip on Oliver's wrist loosened and his hand fell away. And if Oliver stood there for a few moments after, a rare expression of fondness on his usually grim face, nobody would question it.

Just like how nobody would question the fact that a blanket magically appeared on top of Barry's sleeping form. The past seventy two hours may not have been fun, nor were they easy, but they had all learned something through it that nobody would soon forget.

That with friends, come hardships and pain or joy and laughter, no matter the circumstances, _anything_ is possible.

* * *

 **Ahh, some good ol' Olivarry bromance. Haha, hopefully it wasn't super confusing for y'all! Until we meet again! *salutes***


End file.
